“An increase in the minimum wage, combined with a reduction in the personal income tax rate, puts more money into the wallets of minimum wage and low-income earners,” said Don Morgan, Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister, in a news release Friday.

The 2.2 per cent increase was announced in June and calculated based on a weighted average of the increases to the Consumer Price Index and the Average Hourly Wage for Saskatchewan.

The province introduced an indexation formula in 2010. Increases are announced by June 30 and take effect on Oct. 1 of each year.

This is the 10th increase to the minimum wage since 2007, when minimum wage was $7.95.

The increase will have the greatest impact on nearly 50,000 minimum wage and low-wage earners in the province.

Of that group, 62 per cent are women and 35 per cent are children 15 to 19. Thirty-two per cent of low-wage earners are students.